Category Archives: EDUCATION

Common Core Aligned: WorkKeys

Posted on June 23, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Common Core is not ‘just a set of standards’. That statement is one of the bigger lies perpetrated by the supporters of the Core. The ultimate goal is to align everything from materials to books, apps to tests and yes, the means of entry into the workforce.
Common Core, arguably, is lends itself to reinforcing the ‘cradle to grave’ tracking and funneling of your child and their potential. As I was thinking about writing this article, I couldn’t help but make a comparison of what is happening with this kind of tracking and a book I’ve recently read, Divergent. Kids are placed in one of five given classes of society based on what a test tells them is their best match. If your text doesn’t given conclusive results, you’re considered Divergent.

[VIDEO CLIP]

Are our children currently being funneled into one career or another based on often poorly designed tests? We have multiple tests for kids across multiple grades, multiple entry tests for colleges as well. How long until it’s pared down to just a few tests? Tests aimed at becoming some kind of workforce sorting mechanism are not a thing of the future. They’re here now. Those of us standing up and pointing it out? Are we Divergent?

WorkKeys

The following article is going to get a bit involved. There is an article I am going to refer back to. It is essential one reads and comprehends this article before reading what I have to add to it. Please read Missouri Education Watchdog’s Public Education as Workforce Training. Is WorkKeys in Your State. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Michaels on NCSpin: Atkinson won’t run again in 2016

Posted on June 22, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Cash Michaels made the claim on NCSpin ‘s 6/22/14 episode) that State Superintendent June Atkinson won’t run again in 2016. Also in this episode was an minor hissy fit by NC Policy Watch’s Chris Fitzsimon. For a laugh, watch the portion from the 19:45 mark talking about Moral Monday. At the end of it, Fitzsimon has a bit of a meltdown. I laughed.

Watch the Cash Michaels clip below:

[youtube=http://youtu.be/K2UJnREgvtc?t=26m43s]

Gee, someone else thinks that too? I’ve noted before that she dismantled her campaign website and dissolved her campaign fund at the NC Board of Elections. There is likely more than a simple wish to retire, the fact she’s losing allies at a rapid rate, has done little to advance the teacher pay agenda or the fact she has the Perdue knack for making ridiculous and embarrassing hyperbolic statements. No, I bet it has more to do with her stealthily sneaking the fundamentally flawed standards in to North Carolina.

What fundamentally flawed standards? Oh that’s right, the majority of citizens still haven’t heard of them after two years of implementation. Or maybe you have heard of Common Core?

As President Elect of the CCSSO (one of the two D.C. trade organizations that hold the copyright on Common Core) she’s made an unholy mess out of it. I doubt many voters out there cared for the way she’s treated them during this fiasco.

KEEP READING…. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson | Tagged | 3 Comments

Mom Pushes Back Against Common Core Style Math In Canada And Wins.

Posted on June 22, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Our neighbors to the North of us have noticed their math scores declining. What is part of Canada doing about it? National one-size-fits all overly convoluted math to the rescue? NOPE. Pretty much the opposite. They are teaching… wait for it… MATH FACTS and the nuts and bolts like algorithms and multiplication tables. Actually, Canada is putting that type of teaching back in.

Keep Reading – Find out about the mom behind the return to common sense math in Canada. Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core | Tagged | 1 Comment

PolicyWatch Finally Writing on Common Core…

Posted on June 21, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

NC PolicyWatch (the blog mouthpiece of NC Justice Center/BlueprintNC etc) has picked at writing on Common Core over the last few months. They desperately want to jump on the the heads of the Republicans at the NCGA, yet the fundamental flaws with Common Core may have the writers over there taking pause at doing so just yet.

They do have an article up right now by Matt Ellinwood called, Diverse organizations support Common Core as N.C. and other states back away. Besides being written from a 30,000 feet view. It’s got a few important things wrong with it. I attempted to leave the following comment below, but I couldn’t tell if their site took it or not. Read the piece first, it’s short.

My response: Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), BlueprintNC, Common Core | Comments Off on PolicyWatch Finally Writing on Common Core…

#NCGA Rep. Brandon Repeats Racist Smear Of Common Core Opposition

Posted on June 20, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Rep. Marcus Brandon and his cohorts have continually made references that opposition to Common Core in North Carolina oppose President Obama. The subtext of that reference is if we oppose the President, we therefore must be racists. More shutuppery. More politicizing.

I find it disgusting an elected official would attack parents, students, teachers, student, grandparents, military personnel and other concerned citizens in North Carolina in such a manner, yet he’s done it again:

“Other Democrats accused the Republican majority of pouncing on misunderstandings about the program to undermine President Barack Obama, who supports it.

“We’re using this bill to appease about 20 percent of the population that’s very upset about something that’s been misconstrued,” Democratic state Rep. Marcus Brown said.” – Watauga Democrat

This kind of behavior out of an elected official should be called out on the carpet. Not just the rhetoric, but the ignorance about the role of this administration in this whole fiasco. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, Media Bias, NCGA | Tagged , | Comments Off on #NCGA Rep. Brandon Repeats Racist Smear Of Common Core Opposition

NC Must Get Out Of The Common Core’s SBAC

Posted on June 20, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

I’ve written in the past about the SBAC (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium) and its ramifications for keeping North Carolina tied to Common Core even with two bills in our General Assembly attempting to get us out of the standards. For those who have not dug into the SBAC, I encourage you to do so. Start with the Cooperative Agreement between the U.S. Department of Education and the Smarter Balance Assessment Consortium.

The Cooperative Agreement in a nutshell is the U.S. Dept. of Education getting around the law barring them from creating national tests and curriculum by farming it out to a private company. It was paid for with your tax dollars via the Obama administration’s Stimulus package, of which a portion of was funneled into the Race To The Top Grants. The purpose statement from the Cooperative Agreement:

The purpose of this agreement is to support the consortium recipient in developing new, common assessment systems that are valid, reliable and fair for their intended purposes and for all student subgroups, and that measure student knowledge and skills against a common set of college- and career-ready standards in mathematics and English language arts. In light of the technical nature of this grant and the fact that the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) will likely be reauthorized during the course of this project, the Department will provide necessary flexibility to respond to changing circumstances, technology, and laws by working collaboratively with the recipient through this agreement. The objective is to assist the consortium in fulfilling, at minimum, the goals articulated in the consortium’s approved Race to the Top Assessment (RTTA) application, requirements established in the RTTA Notice Inviting Applications (NIA) for New Awards for Fiscal Year (FY) 2010 that was published in the Federal Register on April 9, 2010, and any subsequent additions detailed through this agreement.

The price tag was large:

The estimated cost for the work to be performed under this Agreement is $159,976,843 and $15,872,696 for the supplemental award.

This article will hit some of the bigger reasons why North Carolina needs to get out of the SBAC. However, before going forward, it is worth noting that the SBAC tests were a confirmed “glitch” fiasco and the tests themselves, like PARCC’s, were shrouded in secrecy. Teachers have told me they were not allowed to see the pilot test beforehand in NC nor were they allowed to talk about specifics afterward.

Keep Reading…. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson, NCGA | Tagged , , | 1 Comment